The Hard Times To Play Benefit for Haitian Orphanages

NYC ska/reggae outfit The Hard Times is performing at the Kids 4 Kids/Artists 4 Haiti charity event organized to benefit the victims of the Haiti earthquake, which is taking place at the Bowery Poetry Club this Sunday, January 31st, from 1:00-6:00 pm.

For the Artists 4 Haiti portion of this event, The Hard Times will play their own short set of ska and reggae rhythms, accompanied by some of NYC's most prominent world music percussionists. Following that, the band will serve as the house band for the rest of the event, backing notable New York poets and spoken word artists.

PERFORMING ARTISTS 4 HAITI
KIDS HELPING KIDS
Fundraiser for the Children of Haiti
$5 minimum suggested donation
100% goes directly to orphanages in Haiti

1:00-4:00 pm
Family/Kids Programming: Hayes Greenfield & Jazz-A-Ma-Tazz, Niall O'Leary Dancers, Louise Rogers Band & children's chorus

4:00–6:00 pm
The New York Neo-Futurists Theater ensemble: this award-winning independent theater ensemble has performed hundreds of plays for downtown audiences such as "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind"--visceral and experimental, embracing chance, change, and chaos!

Music: reggae house band The Hard Times with a collection of amazing and eclectic musical talent sitting in, including Salieu Suso and Papa Suso on kora, and Frank Marino on percussion.

Poetry Producers Round: hosts and producers of some of the most popular NYC poetry series bring their poetic energy and voices to the stage for what will surely be an electric experience with the spoken word. Poets include Bob Holman, Nick Power (NYC College Slam), Evie Ivy (Green Pavilion), Angelo Verga (Cornelia Street Café), George Wallace (The Beat Series) Lee Kostrinsky (Smalls Jazz Club), Mike Graves and Susan Scutti (New Phoenix), Kyle Spencer

Featured New Phoenix poets include Michael Graves, who received a grant from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation for 2004 and is the author of "Adam and Cain" (Black Buzzard 2006); Sally-Ann Hard, whose work has been published in places like "The Gwendolyn Brooks Journal of Black Thought & Literature," "Turning Wheel," and "Salamander"; and Joe Fritsch, who explores the etymological sense of poet as "maker."

For more information on the benefit: Christine Timm, bowerykids@yahoo.com or Bob Timm/The Hard Times, hardtimesreggae@gmail.com.

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If you need more Hard Times (and who doesn't?), after the Haiti benefit they move uptown to Harlem to play a set at Shrine at 9:00 pm...